Would I be nuts if...

[martinp]

...I bought one of these?

The PC versions are floating at the 220-250 mark with 1Gb RAM. So thats a £120-150 for the Apple tax and two 6-pin PEG cables (£20 each).

Benefits would be that I could still dual boot Win 7 and OS X without swapping cards.

I was looking at the ATi 5870 however it'd barely 'just' fit inside the Pro (got the ruler out) and realisticly the Mac card would save a lot of hassle.

I have a the Mac version of Photoshop and to change to Windows7 fulltime would also require buying a new licence (for the upgrade cost).

To save the inconvience it would be worth it to me assuming gaming would still be okay for a reasonable time into the future.

Note: I have a 30" monitor, but realistically native res gaming isn't that important but that of a 24" monitor (1920x????) is what I'm looking for...

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I appricate your replies as always...

[scaryjim]

Frankly, yes you would. Then again, you've already bought a Mac, so you probably are Gaming on a GTX 285 should still run comfortably at 1920 X 1200(/1080 if you're on 16:9 ratio) for a few years yet. Given the high spec of the rest of your system, however, it looks to me like a sensible upgrade. It's only the price that makes me shudder...

Any idea what the difference between the "Mac" version and the regular version is? Could you not just buy a regular GTX 285 and stick it your system (saving the mac tax for a rainy day)...?

[shaithis]

The difference is the BIOS on the card, unfortunately you can't flash a PC version as the Mac cards have twice as much BIOS space for the EFI to fit into.

[peterb]

On a cost benefit - you pay a premium for the Apple card - but save on the photoshop license. What is the price differential?

You also have a more convenient set up - is the price differential worth it to you? Only a question you can answer, but from the way you phrased the original post, I think your mind is veering towards buying the Apple card. So that is probably the best way for you to go!

[Phage]

The difference is the BIOS on the card, unfortunately you can't flash a PC version as the Mac cards have twice as much BIOS space for the EFI to fit into.

Thanks. I always wondered about this.

[martinp]

Frankly, yes you would. Then again, you've already bought a Mac, so you probably are

LMAO!

The difference is the BIOS on the card, unfortunately you can't flash a PC version as the Mac cards have twice as much BIOS space for the EFI to fit into.

Some cards (8800GT and 4870GT, even some Quadro FXs) have been successfully flashed to work with the Macs EFI system - only select cards tho. Thing is, if I spent 250 quid on a GTX285 and bricked it through a bad flash I'd be gutted...

Maybe once EFI kicks off (Vista and Win7 support it) on mainstream motherboards, maybe this Mac only firmware will be history and it would just be a case of them writing a second set of drivers...

On a cost benefit - you pay a premium for the Apple card - but save on the photoshop license. What is the price differential?

Well, Say it'll cost 270 for the GTX285 w/cable + ~180ish for Photoshop. So that's a lot more than the Mac card, think I will stick to dual-booting OS X for everything bar gaming.

Just really annoys me the amount of extra they are charging just because it works on a Mac.

At least you guys reckon it'll be good for high res gaming for some time to come so that is a plus point.

The only other choice I have is the Radeon HD4870 w/512Mb - they want 280 pound for that - but I don't think 512Mb is really enough.

So what would you choose?

I will be putting my 8800GT on eBay for about 80 pound with either of the Mac cards to recoup some costs...


Thanks for all the replies though guys, much appreciated!

[scaryjim]

I'm an ATI fanboy, and at those prices I'd get the GTX285! £280 for a 4870 512 is ridonkulous. They only cost £92 for a PC version - you can get the 1GB for less than £120. Monetarily, and even more so proportionately, it's a greater apple tax - you're paying more for less value. The GTX285 is the fastest single-gpu card outside the new 58x0s, so if you can afford it get that one.

At that price I assume your 8800GT is a special Mac version as well? At least Apple tax works in both directions

[martinp]

I'm an ATI fanboy, and at those prices I'd get the GTX285! £280 for a 4870 512 is ridonkulous. They only cost £92 for a PC version - you can get the 1GB for less than £120.

Wow, thanks for pointing that out, didn't know they were that cheap...

Guess the GTX285 is the way to go then - maybe EVGA will make a GTX3xx Mac version but it'd probably take until next Summer. Looks like its a 2-3 week wait until Apple get the cards in stock so I'll give it a good ponder but I think I'll go for it...

At that price I assume your 8800GT is a special Mac version as well? At least Apple tax works in both directions

Yeah, I specced the 8800GT upgrade for my Mac Pro (think it was £90 extra, in January) so it does contain the Mac firmware. After looking on eBay they are selling for £120 new so £75 would be a realistic price I'd reckon...

Thanks again for saving me from buying a stupidly overpriced card tho Jim!

[scaryjim]

No worries, I'm always glad to stick my nose in. Erm, I mean, help out